About

Unforgotten Archives was founded by Ben Swift in 2024. A graduate of Simmons University’s MLIS program with a Masters Degree in Archives Management, he is an archivist with over 15 years of experience with collections large and small. Formerly the Head of Rare Books at the company Boo-Hooray, he catalogued numerous collections and archives, launched their online book business, and edited the catalog for their auction with Sotheby’s: Post-war, Counterculture, and Pop. He was the co-founder and co-editor of the small press Pleasure Editions (2012-2017), a publishing company that focused on new and rediscovered art and poetry. He studied literature and art history at Hampshire College and Art Criticism at School of Visual Arts, where he received an Masters Degree in the Art Writing Program in 2020.

Our Name

The name “Unforgotten Archives” pays tribute to Logan Pearsall Smith, echoing the title of his memoir, Unforgotten Years. A too often overlooked figure in American literature, his writing inspired admiration and praise from writers as different as Dwight Macdonald, David Rattray, Edouard Roditi, Cyril Connolly, André Gide, George Santayana, and Virginia Woolf. He is one of the tutelary spirits of this project. 

  • "Not only is Ben Swift's knowledge of literary archives extraordinary, but he brings a deep understanding of historical context and a genuine love of the material. He is a joy to work with."

    -Lynne Lawner, Writer and Art Historian

  • Ben Swift did an extraordinary job organizing and documenting my archive of manuscripts, photos, books and other materials, work product and ephemera from fifteen years (1975-89) of Third Rail, a journal of international literature and arts, which had been in boxes in a storage facility in Hollywood for over twenty-five years.

    Uri Hertz, writer and editor of Third Rail

  • "Ben is so great at what he does that I don't want many people knowing about him."

    -John Solt, Poet and Scholar